Pagasa seeks dialogue with Albay governor

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) will seek an audience with Albay Gov. Joey Salceda to resolve the controversy over the alleged delayed forecast of the weather bureau on tropical storm “Juaning” that hit the Bicol region last Wednesday.

Science and Technology Undersecretary Graciano Yumul yesterday told reporters during the weekly Broadcasters Forum that they will seek a dialogue with Salceda to settle the controversy.

“We will go to Albay and seek dialogue with the governor to extend our condolences and also to explain our (weather bureau’s) side,” he said, referring to the death of the governor’s mother Cielo Sarte Salceda at the height of the storm.

Mrs. Salceda died after she had a fall in the family restroom at past midnight after their house was flooded and a blackout hit Polangui town due to heavy rains. 

Yumul, PAGASA’s supervising undersecretary, was reacting to the complaint of the Albay governor over the delay in raising the storm warning signal despite heavy rains and winds that battered the region.

Salceda said the failure of PAGASA to raise the storm signal delayed the suspension of classes, prompting the provincial government to issue their own suspension of classes in the area.

President Aquino has already ordered an investigation into the alleged failure of PAGASA to issue the accurate weather report during the storm.

Yumul, however, defended the bureau that issued weather bulletins as soon as the tropical depression started intensifying into a storm.

He said the bureau started issuing weather bulletins on July 25 during the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“We have a weather paper trail and we conducted a press conference and submitted our report to the concerned agencies,” Yumul said.

He said PAGASA issued the weather bulletin based on the world meteorological standard and raising of a storm warning signal is based on the strength of the wind and not on the volume of rain.

“We cannot raise storm signal just because people in the area are reporting heavy rains,” he said.

Yumul said the agency provided “on-time and accurate” information to the public, particularly to local government units along the path of the storm.

He insisted that the bureau warned the local officials, through the Office of Civil Defense, that rains were going to pour over Bicol due to Juaning as early as last week.

The OCD’s job is to relay the information from PAGASA to local governments down to the barangay level.

Yumul said he would sit down with concerned government officials to identify any communication problems.

Meanwhile, Ang Kasangga sa Kaunlaran party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco sent P500,000 cash to the Albay government to help the province recover from the destruction caused by the storm.

Haresco, vice chairman of the Joint Oversight Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, said the financial aid was sourced from his pork barrel fund.

He said there is a need to act immediately to aid the typhoon-stricken province and called on other sectors to help those affected by the storm.

“Juaning has destroyed many homes and rendered kilometers of roadways and bridges impassable, isolating those in direst need,” he said, adding the resulting delay in the delivery of relief goods and services would expand the “gravity of this humanitarian disaster.”

He said alternate routes and infrastructure should be constructed to prevent the province from being isolated during severe storms.

“I hope this shows government that the clamor for alternate modes of transportation, such as modular ports, is a crucial element of disaster preparedness, and that viability is not always entirely based on economics,” Haresco said.

He said roll on-roll off vessels would have the capability to deliver relief goods in bulk and that the presence of seaborne routes would effectively shorten their delivery periods to calamity areas.

The Diocese of Legaspi has started soliciting aid for the families who have been displaced and affected by the storm.

In an interview over the Church-run Radio Veritas, Diocese of Legaspi Social Action director Fr. Ramoncito Segubienze said that parts of Legaspi City, Ligon, Polangui and Malinao are still flooded.

He appealed to Good Samaritans, from the government and private sectors, to help the victims of Juaning who are temporarily staying in evacuation centers. – With Helen Flores, Paolo Romero, Evelyn Macairan